Latest news with #CristinaKirchner
France 24
03-07-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Brazil's Lula vists Argentina's Kirchner, under house arrest
Lula arrived at Kirchner's home to the cheers of around 100 supporters of the former president. He emerged almost an hour later, but did not speak to the crowd. Kirchner, the standard-bearer of the Argentine left for over two decades, was convicted of "fraudulent administration" while president between 2007 and 2015. The 72-year-old began serving a six-year sentence last month after losing a Supreme Court appeal, and has also been barred from holding public office again. Lula found Kirchner "in good health, strong and determined to fight," he said in a message on social media platform X. "In addition to expressing my solidarity with her for everything she has been through, I wished her all the strength she needed to continue fighting, with the same determination that has characterized her career," he wrote. Kirchner hailed the visit as "much more than a personal gesture: it was a political act of solidarity," in her own message on X. She drew a parallel between her fate and that of Lula's, describing how he also was imprisoned -- in his case, for bribe-taking and money-laundering -- before being voted back into office. The meeting took center stage on Thursday at the biannual summit of the Mercosur regional bloc, made up of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia. There, Lula was the guest of Argentina's libertarian President Javier Milei -- who has made no secret of his disdain of the leftist leader, previously branding him a "Communist" and "corrupt." The two had no bilateral meetings on Thursday. © 2025 AFP
Bloomberg
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Argentine Judge Allows Lula to Visit Kirchner Under House Arrest
A federal judge granted former Argentine President Cristina Kirchner's request for Brazil's leftist leader, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, to visit her this week in Buenos Aires while she's under house arrest. The Brazilian president is traveling to the Argentine capital for a summit of the South American trade bloc Mercosur being hosted by his regional rival, President Javier Milei. Kirchner, a longtime Lula ally, was sentenced last month after Argentina's top court upheld a previous corruption conviction.
AU Financial Review
29-06-2025
- Politics
- AU Financial Review
Milei goes for broke in Argentina
I am trying – with limited success – not to panic. Being jammed tight and unable to move in any direction in a crush of hundreds of thousands of flag-waving Argentinian protesters is not for the faint-hearted. I had come across a loud Buenos Aires demonstration in support of Cristina Kirchner, the left-wing former Argentinian president just convicted of corruption. I followed the drums, the singing and the flags along an increasingly crowded street, foolishly calculating everyone would spread out once we reached the main square.
Reuters
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Argentina's ex-President Kirchner, under house arrest, plots political fight-back
BUENOS AIRES, June 23 (Reuters) - On a Buenos Aires residential street, two protesters painted a telling image in colorful strokes: a portrait of a lone woman on her balcony overlooking a mass of people below. The figure was one of Argentina's most prominent politicians in the last two decades - leading opposition leader and former first lady and two-time president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who was put under house arrest last week in a six-year sentence for corruption. It means the end of a political career - at least formally - for the 72-year-old, a divisive populist whose big government model is now being dismantled by the "chainsaw" austerity of libertarian President Javier Milei. The sentence also bans Kirchner, who had announced plans to run for Buenos Aires province's legislature, from public office. That second-floor balcony - the one place from which Kirchner can now rally her base due to her city apartment lockdown - is becoming a focal point for supporters on the Peronist left, with her detention putting a spotlight back on her as a symbol of resistance to Milei. "It gives Cristina's leadership political clout that she was losing," said Camila Perochena, a historian at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires. "This gives her extra life." Kirchner's house arrest has brought tens of thousands of protesters into the streets of Buenos Aires in recent days, and injected much-needed energy into her movement, which had been battling internal divisions and disillusionment, especially since losing the 2023 presidential election to Milei. "This puts her right in the center of the political stage," Juan Grabois, a prominent leftist social leader and a close ally of Kirchner, told Reuters. At least in the short term, experts said the corruption sentence linked to roadway contracts would help Kirchner, though longer-term it remains to be seen if she can effectively wield influence without being able to attend rallies and events in person. Last Wednesday, Kirchner was in her home serving house arrest while in the central Plaza de Mayo, her voice boomed from huge loudspeakers before crowds that had marched in downtown Buenos Aires. "We will return, and what's more we will return with more wisdom, more unity, more strength," she told supporters in a pre-recorded message. "From wherever I am, from whatever trench, I will do everything I can to be there with you." Listening in the Plaza was Andrea Albarracin, 35, a member of Kirchner's Peronist Justicialista Party. "I don't hear a Cristina who has been defeated," she said. Maria Teresa Garcia, secretary general of the party, told Reuters that Kirchner would continue to lead because "there isn't another person who can raise her voice like Cristina." Many who gathered in the last few days outside of Kirchner's home repeated her claims that her detention - after an original 2022 sentence when she was vice president was upheld by the Supreme Court this month - was an act of political revenge by the right-wing. "They're coming for Cristina because she represents and epitomizes everything the concentrated powers of this country detest," said supporter Christopher Loyola, who backed the Peronists' big state spending on education, health and science. That big government focus helped Argentina have one of the strongest social safety nets in the region and boosted the public sector, but money printing to sustain it was partly to blame for years of soaring inflation and deep deficits. The night that Kirchner's sentence was upheld, Loyola waited in the cold to show his backing for Kirchner, who while divisive still has some 30% popular support, opens new tab, according to local polls, that gives her influence over the wider Peronist bloc. Last week, large banners outside Kirchner's apartment said "Always with Cristina." Vendors sold T-shirts with Kirchner's face. Supporters danced as a brass band played "Muchachos," Argentina's last soccer World Cup anthem. Yamila Perdomo, 41, a tour guide who had an Argentine flag draped on her back, had caught a glimpse of Kirchner on her balcony waving to supporters. "If this can happen to the most powerful woman in our country, imagine what guarantees regular citizens have," said Perdomo. "We are here in defense of democracy."
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Argentina's Kirchner urges backers not to gather as police deploy
Argentine ex-president Cristina Kirchner urged supporters Friday not to gather outside her Buenos Aires apartment, where she is serving a six-year fraud sentence, saying she feared police violence. Kirchner alleged on social media the government had "orchestrated a police operation at the door of my house with the sole purpose of provoking conflicts." She called on her backers, who held a days-long vigil outside her flat, to exercise "wisdom and restraint" and to organize a demonstration planned for Friday elsewhere. AFP witnessed police barriers around the building, with several police trucks stationed nearby. The 72-year-old, convicted of "fraudulent administration" over public works contracts awarded during her 2007-2015 two-term presidency, had an appeal overturned by the Supreme Court last week. The court upheld her sentence and a life ban on holding public office. A different judge allowed Kirchner to serve her sentence at home, which quickly became the scene of solidarity demonstrations. On Wednesday, tens of thousands of people marched on a central square under the banner "Argentina with Cristina." The following day, a judge ruled Kirchner may use her second-floor balcony, under which supporters had been keeping vigil and where she made several brief appearances. A ban on "any behavior that could disturb the peace of the neighborhood" had led to fears she could be confined indoors. Kirchner has challenged limited visitation rights ordered by the court, restricted to family members, doctors and lawyers in what her team described as "a totally arbitrary exclusion regime." There has been speculation Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva could try and visit her when he travels to Buenos Aires for a summit in July. He would have to request a court's permission. sa/dga/ial/lpt/mlr/sms
